Have you got clients going through radiotherapy?

If you have a client going through cancer treatment, or if you have been approached by a potential client undergoing cancer treatment, it can be hard to know where to start in helping them. 

You can qualify in our oncology touch therapy treatments if you want to offer physical help to those going through treatment. 

Alternatively, you can join our free Cancer Awareness Certificate training begin to gain an understanding of different types of cancer treatments and how they can affect the skin. 

Keep reading for an insight on what radiotherapy is, how it can affect the skin, and what products can help combat the side-effects.

Radiotherapy 

Radiotherapy, also known as radiation treatment, is the controlled use of high energy X-rays to treat many different types of cancer. About 4 out of 10 people with cancer have radiotherapy. The length of each course of radiotherapy will depend on the size and type of cancer and where it is in the body. The Society of Radiographers recommends that thick creams and creams with a high content of paraffin or petroleum jelly are not used on radiation damaged skin. Their research has found that using a moisturiser on the skin does improve it's condition during treatment.

Calendula, a soothing herbal macerate that has been shown, in trials, to improve moderate-to-severe dermatitis (sore, dry and itchy skin). We are often asked if we have any products that are suitable for use as a patient undergoes radiation treatment. The answer isn't straight-forward so here goes....

The products that form the Defiant Beauty collection can help to soothe and moisturise your skin. We recommend our Itchy Skin Oil for use around the time of radiotherapy. You need to be very careful about when you apply the Itchy Skin Oil. You should NEVER apply the oil before treatment, only afterwards and during breaks in treatment. We suggest that you apply the oil before taking a bath or shower (after treatment) so that excess oil can be washed away.

The Defiant Beauty Collection does not contain creams as creams and lotions contain oil and water. In order to turn oil and water into a cream or lotion, preservatives and emulsifying agents must be added. Creams and lotions cannot be made without using a large number of ingredients, increasing the number of substances that the patient is exposed to. As cancer patients often have sore, sensitive, dry, itchy and damaged skin we have decided to keep the number of ingredients in our products to a minimum – this means no creams or lotions. Defiant Beauty does not contain any paraffin or petroleum jelly. You will find only natural vegetable oils in the Defiant Beauty Range.